's memory went back to a scene which had
occurred behind the wheelhouse of a P. and O. liner about ten years
before, and, without exactly knowing why, he felt as if it would give
him a certain amount of satisfaction to repeat it. Then he turned to the
girl and said:

"I beg your pardon; I hope you haven't been waiting. You should have
taken a drink at once."

"Oh, thanks, that's all right. I'm a lot better now," she said, taking
up the tumbler and smiling over it at him. "Well, here's luck! It was
awfully good of you to get me out of that crowd. I believe I should have
fallen down if it hadn't been for you."

"Oh, please don't mention that," he said; "only too happy--I mean I was
very glad I was there to do it. Here's to your complete recovery."

As he drank their eyes met over the glasses. Until now he had not really
looked at her; things had been happening rather too rapidly for that.
But now, as he put his glass down and began to scrutinize the
half-saucy, half-demure, and altogether charming face on the other side
of the table, it suddenly dawned upon him that it was exceedingly like
his own.

The nut-brown hair was almost the same shade as his, but it had a gleam
of gold in it which his lacked. The dark hazel eyes were bigger and
softer, and were shaded by longer and darker lashes than his, but their
colour and expression were very similar. The rest of the face, too, was
very similar, only while his nose was almost perfectly straight, nearly
pure Greek in fact, hers was just the merest trifle _retrousse_.

The mouths and chins were almost identical save for the fact that
firmness and strength in his were replaced by softness and sweetness in
hers. Not that hers were lacking in firmness, for a skilled
physiognomist would have put her down at the first glance as a young
lady of very decided character; but the outlines were softer, the lips
were more delicate and more mobile, and, young as he was, there was a
gravity in his smile which was replaced in hers by a suspicion of
defiant recklessness which was not without its mournful meaning for
those who had eyes to see.

"That's done me a lot of good," she said, as she finished her brandy and
soda. "Now, I mustn't keep you from your friends any longer. I'm very
much obliged to you indeed. Good night!"

He rose as she did, and took the neatly-gloved little hand that she held
out to him over the table.

"I don't see why we should say good night just yet unless y